The Indomitable
Ryan SidebottomRejuvenated English Bowler Is New Swing Sensation

By Orin
DavidsonMarch 28th, 2008
When Ryan Sidebottom was reintroduced to the England Test team he
was meant to be a mere fill in for an injured team mate less than
one year ago.

That decision has since led to a major success story
for the Michael Vaughn captained team.

Sidebottom’s exploits over West Indies, India,
Sri Lanka, and just this week - New Zealand have made the 30-year
old into an overnight sensation.

And in the process the Englishman has made history
as probably the first journeyman ever to be transformed into a strike
bowler.

England’s comeback 2-1 series victory over New
Zealand would not have been achieved without the excellent batting
of Andrew Strauss or the brilliant bowling of Monty Panesar especially
in the final Test, but more than anything else without Sidebottom’s
massive performance, they might well have been ruing another road
series loss.

He scalped 24 wickets in the three Tests and when
his 53 overall from 13 Tests at a 26 average is taken into consideration
you have no doubt who is England’s best bowler at the moment.

With Steve Harmison, the man touted to follow in the
footsteps of great English pacemen like Fred Trueman., finding his
career floundering to a standstill and the ascension of Matthew Hoggard
stunted after injury, Sidebottom is displaying the mental and physical
strength and the skill of swing to help keep England’s now tattered
Test reputation in shape.

Already Sidebottom is proving that a fast bowling
star can be made after 30 years of age. His 13 outings at Test level
have already yielded a hat trick, and seven, six and five wicket hauls
and a Man of the Series award.
And he has shown the ability to star not only in the seamer friendly
conditions of last year when he spearheaded a 3-0 England home blitz
of West Indies , but also on the pedestrian strips in Sri Lanka, where
he bagged 12 wickets in five ODI’s and the in-between types
of New Zealand.

In the process Sidebottom is bringing new meaning
to the England’s long held policy of valuing maturity over youth,
simply because he can bowl straight and knows to swing the ball both
ways.

Not many countries would recall a 29-year old especially
one who was discarded six years earlier, given the age factor and
the wear and tear associated with fast bowling, especially those enduring
the grind of county cricket all their career and the damaged goods
label associated with those types.

England have been using old players by other teams
standards, from time immemorial, and in some cases with dire consequences
most notably the torture 40-year-old Brian Close endured at the hands
of a rampaging Michael Holding’s pace, when the batsman was
recalled in 1976.

Sidebottom may soon turn out to be their best justification
for continuing with the policy.

And he is proving that pace is not everything, but
rather that control and swing can be just as effective.

It is a weapon not all fast bowlers pay attention
to , but in these days when raw pace is not as effective as it was
30 years ago, given the availability of technological aids like the
bowling machine that can train a batsman’s muscle memory to
combat thunderbolt deliveries with greater ease, Sidebottom types
can be the new standard for pacemen.

Malcolm Marshall, the great West Indian combined pace
and swing better than most of his era which forced most of the batting
greats that encountered him, to rate the right-armer the best West
Indian paceman ever from the long list of super outstanding fast bowlers
they produced.

Wasim Akram was the master of reverse swing and became
not only Pakistan’s most accomplished fast bowler, but the best
of all types from the country.

It helps that Sidebottom is a Yorkshireman, who are
considered physically, the toughest of all English types that Truman
epitomized, which is allowing the former to withstand the injury bugbear
better than his compatriots.

They are not known as coalminers descendants for nothing.

Sidebottom has the added advantage of being a left
armer, whose type seem better equipped to generate swing easier, which
might explain Akram’s success and others before his time like
Alan Davidson, the outstanding Australian, and currently among others,
Indian sensations Zaheer Khan and RP Singh.

Even West Indian Pedro Collins, who passed up the
current Sri Lanka Test series, for county cricket with Surrey as the
latest Kolpak player, has become the Region’s most consistent
fast bowling wicket taker in the current Carib Cup and in past competitions
whenever he plays..

Not to mention the indomitable Chaminda Vaas who bowled
Sri Lanka to victory over West Indies on a deathly slow Providence
stadium pitch this week.

They are proving that specialist each way swing bowlers
can do well in any conditions and Sidebottom has become the standard
bearer, given his rapid ascendancy.

England are not down to oppose Australia anytime in
the near future, but had the selectors made an informed decision to
select Sidebottom for the team’s tour Down Under two seasons
ago, he might well could’ve been the difference between a 5-0
whitewash and a better result.

Proving himself against the world’s number one
team will provide an acid Test for him nevertheless.

And from all indications Sidebottom should emerge
with flying colors when Australia make their next Ashes series tour
in 2009. Orin
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